Have the article read by OpenAI (Beta). Please note that AI translations may take some time to process.Rome (dpa) – Financial police in Italy, Austria, Romania and Slovakia have arrested 22 people and seized around 600 million euros in connection with a European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) investigation of criminal organisations trying to defraud the EU.
On Thursday, the prosecutor’s office said that eight people are in custody and 14 are under house arrest. Two further suspects have been banned from working and trading. The majority of the suspects have a criminal record.
The suspects are alleged to have used a network of fictitious companies to apply for money from the EU-funded NextGenerationEU recovery programme and then embezzled it, the EPPO said. The crimes took place between 2021 and 2023, the office alleged.
Specifically, the alleged criminal organisation was concerned with funds from the Italian National Recovery Programme or PNRR.
Using fictitious companies and with the involvement of front men, the suspects applied for large sums of money for various project initiatives, according to the police statement. They are also accused of laundering huge illegal profits.
The Venice financial police played a leading role in the investigation, reportedly acting on a request from the EPPO and enforcing a court order to freeze assets totalling more than 600 million euros.
The NextGenerationEU recovery programme, worth more than 800 billion euros, is intended to help EU countries get back on their feet after the coronavirus pandemic. As a particularly hard-hit country, Italy is to receive the largest sum from the programme at almost 200 billion euros.In order to receive the aid, member states must submit a plan with concrete investment and reform projects. (4 April)
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